South African court jails great-granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi in fraud and forgery case
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A court in South Africa’s Durban has sentenced a great-granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi to seven years in jail. Ashish Lata Ramgobin was found guilty in a six-million rand fraud and forgery case by the court on Monday. Ashish Lata Ramgobin, the daughter of noted rights activists Ela Gandhi and late Mewa Ramgobind, was accused of defrauding businessman SR Maharaj after he gave her Rs 3.33 crore (R 6.2 million) for allegedly clearing import and customs duties for a non-existent consignment from India. Maharaj, the director of the New Africa Alliance Footwear Distributors, was promised a share of profits.
The Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court refused Lata Ramgobin leave to appeal both the conviction and the sentence. At the time of the beginning of the trial in the case against Lata Ramgobin in 2015, Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had said that she allegedly gave fake invoices and documents to persuade potential investors that three containers of linen were being shipped in from India.
Lata Ramgobin was, at that time, released on a bail of Rs 2.68 lakh (50,000 rand). On Monday, the court was informed during the hearing that Lata Ramgobin had met Maharaj in August 2015. The New Africa Alliance Footwear Distributors imports, manufactures and sells clothing, linen and footwear. Maharaj's company also gives funds to other companies on a profit-share basis. Lata Ramgobin had told Maharaj that she had imported three containers of linen for the South African Hospital Group NetCare.
"She said she was experiencing financial difficulties to pay for import costs and customs and she needed the money to clear the goods at the harbour,” said NPA spokesperson Natasha Kara on Monday. "She advised him (Maharaj) that she needed R6.2 million. To convince him, she showed him what she claimed was a signed purchase order for the goods. Later that month, she sent him what seemed to be a NetCare invoice and delivery note as proof that the goods were delivered and payment was imminent," she added.
Lata Ramgobin further sent Maharaj a confirmation from NetCare's bank account that payment had been made, said Kara. Keeping in mind Ramgobin's family credentials and NetCare documents, Maharaj had entered into a written agreement with her for the loan. However, after Maharaj came to know that the documents were fake and NetCare had no arrangements with Lata Ramgobin, the businessman laid criminal charges. Ramgobin was founder and executive director of the Participative Development Initiative at the NGO International Centre for Non-Violence.
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